And so, we finally acquaint ourselves.

Working at the Ministry was definitely something that needed getting used to but might to the delight of the new Deputy Minister of Magic, people were remarking about how well he actually was settling in.

It was a bright, August morning, one that draped light over even the dingiest parts of London. Arriving in London had been something that had initially been a bit of a trial for the Deputy Minister who was based in Scotland with no intention what so ever to uproot his children. He was finally, finally beginning to get accustomed to it and would Apparate right into his office most mornings before shedding his outer robes, putting his bag down and going in search for the little Gryffindor secretary who could most often be found outside the building having a cigarette with some of the girls from the copying room. Elijah did try to be sympathetic towards all of them but he couldn’t help but feel miffed that they never seemed to be in working where they were supposed to be.

After a cup of coffee and dragging the girls back into the building – or, rather, escorting them – Elijah headed to his office where, there waiting on his desk, was a pile of folders for him to sift through for the day. He sighed heavily at the sight of it, knowing that it would be a long morning, afternoon and evening. The only thing he could reconcile himself with was the idea of lunch; and, it has to be said, one o’clock certainly wasn’t that far away.

Setting down his coffee, Elijah picked the first file off of the top and walked around to the chair tucked in under the desk. He kicked it out from beneath, the wheels moving easily on the wood floor, and plopped himself down in it, leaning heavily against the leather as he flicked through the files, feeling already weigh in over his head with the subject matter: economy, what else?

It was just after twelve when the little dish filled half way with water to his left on his desk began to swirl with bright green, signalling a notice from his secretary. Immediately afterwards her face appeared in the water rand Elijah took his eyes from the notes he was making and looked at her, shooting the woman a smile which she returned almost instantly.

“There’s a young girl here asking for you, Mister Krum. She doesn’t have an appointment.”

Elijah raised an eyebrow. “Name?”

“She said you know her husband.” The secretary replied, worry furrowing her eyebrows.

Elijah sat back in his chair, a small smile tugging his lips upwards. “Send her in, Serena.”

Naomi couldn't believe she had gotten through security. One of the Ministry's most wanted walks in and gets to the Deputy Minister without a worry. She had lost her wand so it was only a problem of finding a little booth in Knockturn that sold used wands- wands that had been stolen but never reported. The security guard weighed her wand and said, "Thank you very much, Mrs Alabaster." Naomi blinked and smiled, her hood still mostly hiding her face. "Thank you."

She turned and hurried for the lifts, hitting the button and waiting, her eyes determinedly ignoring the attempts of others to catch her eye so they could identify her. Her outfit would have drawn more attention had she not been working so hard to be so casual. She let out a slow breath and stilled her fluttering heart.

She entered onto the correct floor and hurriedly found the secretary. "I need to speak to El- Mr. Krum."

"Appointment?"

"No."

The woman stared. "A name?"

Naomi wet her lips and then said, "He knows my husband. Please."

The woman nodded and motioned for a chair. Naomi took it and stared forward, her grey eyes hidden in the shadow of her hood. She wasn't sure if Elijah would remember her. Most Slytherins knew each other, since they usually doubled as Dark Followers, but he never had. However, Elijah was notorious around Hogwarts, and Naomi had been quite popular herself. He should remember her. And he had never seemed like a pinnacle of morality, yet here he was, a young, high ranking Ministry official. One person decided to off Lupin, and Elijah took over. Surely, he could help her. Surely, he would.

But there was always the chance he couldn't, he wouldn't.

"You can go in, now," the secretary called. Naomi's eyes flicked upwards and she nodded, walking to the door and slipping in. Her heart pounded. If he decided he didn't want to be stuck in a room with a man-eating werewolf, she could be screwed. She closed the door and walked halfway in, putting equal distance between herself and Elijah, and herself and the door.

"Elijah? You know my husband... Mr. Barker. And you might remember me." She reached up and lowered her hood. "I was hoping... Well... I-I," she stammered, starting to feel panicked. She had murdered with ease, but asking for redemption was terrifying. She swallowed. "I'm in trouble."

Ignoring the withering look that the secretary shot him through the glass, Elijah rose from his chair to great the entrant to his office. Of course he was not entirely sure to whom the visitor was alluding but he knew her husband – that was the main thing. Except the only thing was that Elijah knew many people’s husbands; he supposed the only difference was that they didn’t visit him that often announcing that it was their other halves he knew and not them. He always made a point to get to know his friends’ wives as they often had good taste. This young woman he had not yet come across though, not as a married woman. Oh, but he remembered her from school. How could you forget Naomi Greyback?

Elijah’s face could not manoeuvre itself into a smile. As he took in the young woman, he realised she was in a bit of a state and could not help but wonder how exactly she got past security. But she’d managed it and he admired her for her perseverance. He gestured for her to take a seat with a flick of his wrist which saw the ottoman prancing around by his desk turn into a rather fidgety arm chair. Elijah then took his own seat and gestured again before telling her:

“If you feed it your sock, it won’t bite you.”

Afterwards, Elijah let the young woman speak, let her explain her situation; let her just think about what she was trying to say. A great moment stretched between them after she’d finished speaking, giving Elijah time himself to consider what she had said. His time with Barker, both on Felix’s terms and his, had not been pleasant and for the man to betray him after an act of kindness on Elijah’s part was like adding salt to old wounds and was not something Elijah was willing to forgive. Not yet, anyway. He knew that Naomi wouldn’t be talking to him if there was not a reason for it and trouble was usually something people came to him with, as if they expected he could do something for them. He didn’t know what made him this go-to person, why he was this confident to so many, but he was not going to begrudge them of their choice. He felt he could help, especially now.

“Well, I suppose the first thing would be to ensure you have safe lodgings. If this is trouble that is going to see people with wands in search of you, or even fellow wolves, I’d rather you be safe before we take any other steps. But perhaps we’ll tend to that afterwards if you do not already have the lodgings.” Elijah put his hands in his lap, setting his gaze on her as he tried to work out exactly why she’d come here without asking. In the end he relented, asking tentatively, “What happened, Naomi?”

She had finished speaking, so she sat. Lately, a constant exhaustion had decided to settle into her bones, weighing her down as though her joints were made of lead. She didn't seem like herself- herself with Felix, or herself before. Before Felix she had been vivacious and light, quick to smile or sneer. With Felix, she had become wild, her hair crazy and her attitude unpredictable. Now she couldn't seem to muster any expression; she seemed less like a wild animal and more like a starved stray; ever her hair had deflated.

So sitting was a beautiful blessing. She was doing her best to ignore the ottoman but she slowly realized it wasn't going to leave her alone. She reached down, kicking a shoe off and flung her sock away from her. The ottoman chased happily after it as though it were a dog. Naomi shook her head. Was this was wizards were doing while she was out in the wild? Breeding spaniels and ottomans?

He explained that she needed shelter and she nodded. "I don't think I have to worry about my pack- they are loyal to me, not a cause. In fact, they may be in trouble if I am. I told them to scatter until I had news. And I doubt my father's pack will care much. Fenrir never recognized my allegiance, so my desertion must not have much weight."

She paused. She had only hinted at what brought her here today and now it was time to confess. He asked her for the story and her head drooped and she studied her knees. "I was fooled. Felix tricked me. I built a life of murder and crime around my love for him. I changed my soul for him." She hated being one of those women so heavily rooted in a man and yet, here she was. "He's cheated on me. With the Prophet girl. And I'm almost certain there were others. I realized he was incapable of love. And I told him I'd take him down."

She looked up at Elijah. "You have to understand- it was as if he put a spell on me. Suddenly, I was mad for him. I wasn't Naomi, I was Felix's wife. And when I realized he didn't have the decency to let me be just that, the spell broke. I am disgusted with what I let myself do." She shuddered. "I became a werewolf to fight along side him." She sighed and steeled herself.

"I think I need to confess my crimes. I'm trying to start over. I want to clean my slate, but I'm terrified that if I try, I'll get the Dementor's Kiss." She bit her lip. "I don't want to die. I want to bring Felix in and start over, as though he were never there. I think I royally screwed up this time."

There was something not altogether unappealing about what many light wizards considered ‘the other side’. Death Eaters, despite all their murdering ways, were human just like everyone else. They had a set of goals that, though people did not wholly agree with, they were going to follow whether death befell them or not. Elijah admired them for their determination, however foolish he may have thought them to be at times. Yet this woman who stood before him was one worn out by her activities and Elijah did not get the impression that she was playing tricks on him. No, she was genuinely weary, with a desire to bring about an end to Felix too – something Elijah supported wholly.

And so he listened to her, fiddling idly with the papers on his desk as he did so, shuffling them into short stacks which he’d have one of the secretaries catalogue later. He looked up upon her mentioning Jamie and his brows furrowed. When had Jamie run into Felix? Why had she run into Felix? Elijah supposed Jamie was another one he’d taken. Elijah hadn’t seen her in nearly a year and had almost given her up for dead. But she was alive, just about, certainly alive enough to have relations with Felix.

“Well,” Elijah said finally. “If your pack can protect you, that is the only reassurance I need.” Elijah swallowed and weighed up his thoughts as he tried to work out what he was going to say next. “I knew Jamie quite well, once.” Elijah tapped his fingers on the table as agitation rose within him. “I never dubbed him as one interested in sex. I thought he got his pleasure perversely from the tortures.” Elijah cocked his head to the side for a moment, as if agreeing with what he was saying before fixing his eyes back on Naomi. “You see, it’s a problem when we try to go after Felix. Forgive me, Naomi, but he is a worm. Though, more accurately he’s like a sodden bar of soap in slippery hands. Once we think we’ve got him, he just slides out again into the bubbly depths and we’re shrouded in darkness as to his location.”

Elijah sat back into his chair and began to weigh up his options. He certainly could pardon Naomi of her crimes but he did not think for a second that he would get it past Khaat. However, anything regarding Barker’s capture would definitely interest her and so perhaps that is the card he could play when the time came to pose it to her. It would have to go through her. There was no way around it. Elijah couldn’t believe he’d have to ask – it felt childish – but he knew she wouldn’t forgive him if he didn’t.

“They call it Stockholm Syndrome or Capture-Bonding. It’s likely that when Felix first took you, the bonds were made. It’s what Muggles call it at least. It’s the closest thing they have to identifying the bonds people have between one another. They occur for different reasons but some rupture if the person is under physical or mental strain. That is most likely what caused your affection for him. I believe that a meeting with the Head Warlock is in order, honestly. There are crimes held against your name, ones we need to take off of record in order for us to proceed. However, I ask you to please not make me out to be a fool, Naomi. This is your second shot. Everyone makes mistakes, yes, but don’t make them again, eh? I can’t wipe it off a second time. This time will be difficult enough but I think I can get her to budge. Next time, should you muck it up again, I can’t promise anything.”

Elijah ran his fingers through his hair before dropping his hand back to the surface of the desk. “So let’s say, hypothetically, we’ve dealt with the pardoning already. Where do you wish to go from there?”

He was putting her in the hands of her pack and nodded, though a trickle of fear forced her to admit, "I don't know that they are safe, however. I'm certain they'd die to protect me, the bond to a pack leader is strong, but I'd really not have the only people I have left murdered. I'm not asking for the Ministry to house me, but... I'd just really appreciate being pointed in the direction of a safe place, and maybe a few others for my pack. We can hide out during the full moons- I'll make them swear."

He spoke of Jamie and Naomi felt the odd emotion in her stomach writhe and twist. Who had Naomi ever been jealous of before, besides her half brother Ariel- and that was for much different reasons. Naomi knew she would learn to rub elbows with those she had previously persecuted- but to ever be kind to Jamie Prophet was a cruelty no one could inflict on her.

However, Elijah was not asking her to. At his words she sighed, "I didn't think it was. He told me himself though, and now that I know it to be possible with one, it seems all the more probable among the rest." He spoke of Felix crudely, and she found she could bear it. Ah the fury of a woman. Quenched all else.

She listened to his proposed explanation of Capture Bonding and she felt her intestines shrivel and her chin lower. How miserable and piteous a creature to be so foolish and weak! How could she ever hold her head up high again to know her to be so malleable and impressionable, to be so tricked and manipulated. All this time she sought to prove herself, she had been a lie.

She swallowed back the ever-looming feeling of self pity once more and listened patiently to him. He spoke of wiping her crimes and her eyebrows raised- she had never even hoped for that. "Well, I-I," she stammered, not sure what to say. "I mean, I wasn't even expecting that. I was coming in prepared for punishment, be it community service, fines, Azkaban, and I was willing to pay the price. I... I don't think I ever could fall back. This decision I'm making now will have its own consequences. To go back means death, I'm certain. I only have one path before me now."

She had never been much a speaker and it was putting a strain on herself to hear her own voice and such unfamiliar words. She needed a week long hibernation to really be able to face her new life, not all of this talking. But there was still one thing to address. "I just want to start over. I want to be in the field tracking down Felix. Once he is out of sight, out of mind, I can completely start over."

Werewolves were not to be trusted, they never had been. Wild animals could never be properly tamed. They were always called back into the brush that had been their home prior to the attempts at rehabilitation. Naomi was now valuable to the Ministry and her information would be invaluable, he hoped, but that did not mean she could be entirely trusted. She was both a Werewolf and a Death Eater but she held the key to once again allowing them to get hold of Felix Barker, a man who had proved time and time again to be a danger to Wizarding society in more ways than one. Yet she too was dangerous, that would be something Elijah would have to remember. He trusted far too easily and he should have known better. Yet, he was in a position to help more than anything else and if this was the way he had to do it then so be it.

“I can place you on my grounds,” Elijah told her, an air of finality to his voice as he rustled through the papers on his desk in what appeared to be a rather absent-minded fashion. “There are boarding houses there that you may reside in but otherwise you can roam about in the woodland that lines the estate.” Elijah forgot the papers for a while. “There are an abundance of wards around the premises; anti-Werewolf wards, amongst them. I will adjust them for you and your pack to pass through but I will only bend them so far. They are designed to keep the inhabitants safe however the house will remain off-limits.” Elijah looked at her for a moment before moving swiftly on. “It will be safe for you there, I believe. Should, however, anyone on the estate be injured, mortally or superficially, you will find yourselves awaiting an appointment with Dementors in a holding cell in Azkaban, are we clear?”

Elijah was not going to make bargains. He was not the one that needed the help, not personally, anyway. Felix needed to be caught, yes, but that was all in due time, with or without Naomi’s help. No, she was asking something of him which meant he was the one in the place where demands could be made. Plus, he was doing Naomi the favour. She was merely supplying what warranted that favour. Should she fail to provide the information and lead to Barker’s capture, she had her place. Elijah felt himself somewhat unfair in the situation but he knew he was going out on a limb for the Greyback girl and as such, he wanted results.

“Do not come under the impression you are just here to supply information, Naomi. Do not make that mistake. You are of greater use to us than just that, though the information will be invaluable. Should this prove to be some sort of game then Azkaban is where you will end up. I am not going to mess around here. This is your one last ticket into a good and sensible life. It might not always be as exciting as one would like but it’s good and clean and you can provide for your family well enough this way. You will be out in the field, worry not. In fact, I’d rather like to see you back with Felix. I know you wish to distance yourself from him but I wish to entrap him with those he trusts. Now, I know this is a delicate matter, but do you know of the condition of Ms. Prophet? Is she in his hands? Do you know of this? She, though you will hate me for it no doubt, can be of use too. Amongst others. Now, I think it might be an idea for us to find the Chief Warlock, don’t you?”

Naomi did not like that starting over would leave her so indebted. She had left Felix for freedom to choose her own life, but she was starting out enslaved to the will of Elijah Krum. Still, she was not ungracious. She knew he was the one at far more risk through this deal and she knew how much trouble this could potentially cause him. Had she decided to scam the Ministry, it would be at his fault. She had no other choice, really, than to indebt herself and risk Elijah's reputation.

"There will be no problem from us," she responded. "I swear it to you." During the full moon, she would have her pack remove themselves from his property. Before and after, they would hardly exist. She had left Alexis behind, the woman was more allied to the Death Eaters than to the pack, but Carlyn, Colby, Nestor, and Hoover would follow her. Perhaps not Carlyn. The eldest of the pack had always been a bit slow and ready to settle. Perhaps he would move to Rio like he always bragged he would.

Elijah was clearly worried about his family so Naomi nodded more earnestly. "I assure you- no harm will be done. My pack will not touch a hair on anyone's head. You will not see nor hear from us unless you ask it." Four werewolves cooped up in a boarding house did not frighten Naomi at all. It was comforting to know she would be with her pack and safe.

He assured her of her use and she nodded more seriously now, feeling the weight and excitement of the great undertaking. She was hungry to bring Felix's downfall. So hungry. She would not rest until the man she loved was behind bard. He said he wanted her back with Felix and she cringed. "That might be difficult. I did shout my intentions at him the last I saw him. But I could try to fake my way back."

She hoped never to see Felix until the day she brought him in, but it looked as though she would have to act as informant. She wasn't sure she was cut out for it. Go to Prophet for the kissing up, Naomi wanted vengeance. And speaking of Prophet... Naomi shook her head saying, "He told me little of her. Just that he had her and she was like every other victim. Though apparently, she does claim affection for him. He didn't say his plans or where he kept her. He hasn't returned to our home base in months." He suggested they see Chief Warlock and she nodded her agreement.